Gallo Music

Gallo has been a pioneering force of recorded music for an uninterrupted 100 years.

Known as Gallo Record Company, it has lived through different names and iterations such as
Brunswick Gramophone House, Gallo Recording Studios, Gallo Africa, Gallotone and Gallo-GRC,
amongst others. It’s the longest running independent recording label and music publisher in Africa,
managing the largest catalogue of African master recordings and compositions in the world;
providing one-stop music services to an impressive roster of legendary artists and collaborators.

From the start in 1926, Gallo Music, with its iconic rooster logo, has been a leader, unearthing
talent, releasing classics hits and shaping the cultural landscape of South Africa, the continent of
Africa and beyond. Founded by Eric Gallo as a modest venture in the heart of the throbbing early
Johannesburg music scene, it has developed into a powerhouse and home for Southern African
music. The sounds that laid the foundation of the South African songbook were captured by the
company that has been synonymous with excellence and innovation.

The company is a beacon of consistency and a repository of South Africa’s rich heritage of melodies
that carried generations of a nation for a century. In this illustrious history, Gallo Music has been
home to a dazzling array of superstar musicians whose work defined generations and transcended
ages. From the humble isiZulu mbube melodies of Solomon Linda and The Evening Birds and the
swing of the urbane Miriam Makeba and The Skylarks; to the rousing trumpet of Hugh Masekela’s
revolutionary rhythms and the stirring steady tempo of Lucky Dube’s conscious reggae, Gallo
Music’s catalogue reads like a who’s who of music greatness.

As it stands, our 100-year-old diverse roster encompasses genres such as jazz, marabi, folk,
mbaqanga, isicathamiya, maskandi, reggae, pop, rock, Boeremusiek, Afro-pop, disco, gospel, R&B,
soul, electro, house, dance, and kwaito amongst other township grooves. Marking our enduring
commitment to artistic integrity and brilliance, Gallo artists have earned almost every prestigious
internationally recognised music award from the Grammy to the MTV Awards and MOBO to local
and African accolades such as the SA Music Awards (SAMA), OKTV Music Awards, Kora All Africa
Music Awards, MetroFM Music Awards, SA Traditional Music Awards (Satma) and Crown Gospel
Music Awards.

It was Gallo Music that introduced the technology of recorded music, and in effect took South
African artists to the global stage. As a pioneer, they not only invested in talent empowering
vocalists, artists, musicians, instrumentalists, producers and the technicians in the relentless pursuit
of quality productions and recordings but also manufactured essential music gear such as amps,
record players and guitars (John Lennon’s first guitar was a Gallotone Champion guitar).

From household name to paving the path to international recognition and success that has
reverberated beyond our borders, the role that Gallo Music has played in strengthening cultural
ties with the world and promoting South African music on a global platform cannot be overstated.
Music has been the carrier of the South African identity, bookmarked with cultural and
socio-political developments across a century.